Corrections Today articles from June 1998

Corrections Today archives from June 1998

Inmate education makes sense.(Column)
June 1, 1998... A governor's "State of the State" address boasts that inmates will leave prison with the skills necessary to succeed. Another governor releases an austerity budget listing a number of services which the state can no longer afford to provide,...

State and local criminal justice: who spends how much?
June 1, 1998... While the public and the media focus a great deal of attention on how much the federal government spends to fight crime, criminal justice remains primarily a state and local function. The federal government's job has become the distribution of...

Violent adolescent females.
June 1, 1998... "Female gangsters" or "eight ball chicks" are buzzwords used by the media to describe the instigators of and participants in the perceived rise in adolescent female violence. These females are increasingly portrayed as ruthless and immoral, and...

New ICCA president ponders future. (International Community Corrections Association)(Interview)
June 1, 1998... Editor's note: Dr. Richard J. Billak, chief executive officer of the Community Corrections Association Inc., was elected president of the International Community Corrections Association (ICCA) in 1997. The following interview took place in...

Jack of all trades. (juvenile delinquent services volunteer Chester Beasley)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... "I've done a little bit of everything," says Chester Beasley, volunteer services coordinator for the Mississippi Division of Youth Services (DYS). Along with his regular duties as volunteer coordinator and trainer, "everything includes handling a...

Spreading religious tolerance. (corrections Native American services volunteer Gayl Edmunds)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Gayl Edmunds wears two hats: he's the lead volunteer of Native American activities at the El Dorado Correctional Facility (EDCF) in El Dorado, Kan., and he's director of Indian Alcoholism Treatment Services, a community drug and alcohol treatment...

Woman of many talents. (mental health director Nancy Gautreau)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... If there's a job to be done at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, La., you can be sure that Nancy Gautreau will have some part in it. As mental health director at Elayn Hunt, the state's acute psychiatric care facility, Gautreau...

Corrections lieutenant apprehends escaped inmate. (Eugene Gonzales)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... On Nov. 2, 1997, while on vacation, Lt. Eugene Gonzales, case manager at Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, was driving south on Interstate 25 in Pueblo, Colo., when he observed a truck whose driver let a passenger out on an off-ramp. As...

Rising to the challenge. (senior project manager for mental health Jane Laishes)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... "There are unique challenges in how we address mental illness issues with our incarcerated population. As a person with a background in psychology, I feel committed because the issues are so compelling, so fascinating, that many days it doesn't...

Counselor gives youth second chance at life. (correctional officer Stephen Louthan)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Aug. 21, 1997, started out just like any other day for Stephen Louthan, except that he began his shift early to fill in for a co-worker. Louthan works part-time as a security officer/counselor at Canyon View Group Home in Wenatchee, Wash., where...

Self-made woman. (parole officer Phyllis McNeal)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Phyllis McNeal didn't just fall into her job of parole agent for the California Department of Corrections (DOC). Nor did she implement the Straight Talk program out of some altruistic ideal. Rather, her perseverence and dedication to the job are...

50-plus years of service. (inmate instructor Marian Olson)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Several weeks ago, Marian Olson received a letter from a woman who had been sentenced to the Wisconsin School for Girls in the 1970s. She had "done all right for herself," she wrote, and was married and had three sons who were enrolled in a...

Hero in our midst. (correctional officer Donald Rickson)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... At Osborn Correctional Institution in Connecticut, Donald Rickson is known as a well-trained, no-nonsense officer, unafraid to jump in the middle of a tense situation, and quick to volunteer hours each month training his fellow officers in riot...

Chef extraordinaire. (corrections food service manager Harry Stewart)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Believe it or not, Harry Stewart began his culinary career as a pot washer at the Greensburg Country Club in Greensburg, Pa. "How's that for funny?" asks Stewart, now the food service manager at the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution...

Crisis management. (secretary Malinda Strom)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... Like most secretaries, Malinda Strom writes memos and takes dictation. Unlike most secretaries, though, Strom is also real good with a gun, and has been ranked the fifth best shot in the Tactical Support Unit (TSU), the Arizona State Prison...

Helping turn lives around. (probation specialist Linda Tabb)(Best in the Business)
June 1, 1998... "I don't have cases like worthless checks, simple possession of marijuana or petty theft," says Linda Tabb, correctional probation specialist at the Clearwater, Fla., Probation and Parole Office. "I have the really high-profile cases, things that...

Here today, gone tomorrow: how management style affects job satisfaction and, in turn, employee turnover.
June 1, 1998... During 1996, 23,745 correctional officers quit their jobs at 52 adult correctional agencies - reflecting a national annual turnover rate of 12.9 percent. While there are many reasons why employees separate from their agencies, a primary cause is...

Rethinking education of correctional trainees: incorporating a cooperative learning approach.
June 1, 1998... The diversity of criminal justice students today mandates rethinking the traditional approach to learning, which is generally comprised of lectures by the instructor and subsequent regurgitation of rules by the students. The dynamic nature of the...

The faith factor: studies show religion is linked to the mental and physical health of inmates.
June 1, 1998... The provision of health care to offenders is one of the most significant problems arising from the growth in prison populations today. The costs of prison health care have risen faster than any other correctional costs in recent years. Associated...

Unethical staff behavior: a guide to identifying and investigating staff misconduct.
June 1, 1998... A security guard at a large Midwestern manufacturing plant was charged with ensuring that the entrance gate of the plant was secure and that the plant s employees did not steal anything. This individual was very diligent in the performance of his...

American Jails.
June 1, 1998... by Kenneth E. Kerle, Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 272. Ken Kerle's American Jails fills a hole in the fabric of our knowledge of these institutions. American Jails is easy reading, eschewing needless jargon, pretentiousness and padding. It's...